Search This Blog

Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

Being Offensive and Charitable

A “prodigal daughter” rebelled
against her parents and ran away from home. Alone and in a different city, she
turned to drugs and prostitution. Even after seeing a missing persons report
with her face on it, she refused to contact her family. After a couple years,
she found herself thrown out on the streets with no one to turn to—except her
family. She called her parents and let them know she was taking a bus back
home.

As she steps
off the bus, she finds herself greeted by forty brothers, sisters, uncles,
aunts, cousins, grandparents, and her parents, all wearing party hats, with a
huge banner stretched out saying, “Welcome home.”

Before she
can finish saying “I’m sorry,” her father murmurs, “Hush, sweetheart, we’ll
talk later. We’ve got to get you home to the party; there’s a banquet waiting
for you!”

This is just one of many stories
told in Alcorn’s Grace and Truth Paradox.
It’s a small hardback—under 100 pages—and the pages fly by. But for its
brevity, it says a lot.

I wish I’d have read this book
shortly after its release ten years ago. If you’re familiar with my story,
you’re aware that God is using various elements like wet pants and the Hebrew language to teach me how to more fully experience and demonstrate God’s love.
This book is a huge encouragement to pursue love by focusing on two elements
that we might naturally think are opposites: grace and truth. The paradox of
its title, however, is imagined. Grace and truth are complementary to the
highest degree. As Alcorn says, “Anything less than both is neither.”

In this powerful little volume,
Alcorn explores the scandalous nature of unrelenting grace and unbending truth.
Using poignant stories from Scripture and his own life, he illustrates the
world’s desperate need for the church to weave grace and truth into the fabric
of its walk and talk. He warns against abusing grace by lowering Christ’s standards
in the name of tolerance. He warns against abusing truth by using it as a
weapon for self-righteousness and condemnation.

Something’s
wrong if all unbelievers hate us.

Something’s wrong if
all unbelievers like us.

If we accurately
demonstrate grace and truth, some
will be drawn to us and others will be offended by us—just as they were by
Jesus.

When we offend
everybody, it’s because we’ve taken on the truth mantle without grace. When we
offend nobody, it’s because we’ve watered down truth in the name of grace.

Most importantly, Alcorn shows us
the Savior, who acted as our substitute and example by being “full of grace and
truth” (Jn. 14). It is His display of grace and truth for us that enables us to
display grace and truth for others. Because God designed grace and truth to
work together, Alcorn proposes that we can support the ownership of private
property and the need to voluntarily
share wealth with the needy; we can oppose injustice to minorities and the unborn; we can oppose greedy
ruination of the environment and
anti-industry environmentalism; we can oppose sexual immorality in all its
forms and show genuine compassion to
those trapped in destructive lifestyles.

When you’re caught committing
adultery, probably the last person you want to be brought before is the person
who outlawed adultery in the first place. But that’s exactly what happens to
the adulteress in John 8. And yet, the outcome wasn’t what she might have
expected. As Alcorn explains,

Jesus rebuked the
woman’s accusers. But that isn’t the end of the story. He could have said,

“Go burn for your
sins.”

or

“Go and feel free to
sin some more.”

What He did say was,
“Go and sin no more.”

Jesus didn’t deny
truth. He affirmed it. She needed to repent. And change.

Jesus didn’t deny
grace. He offered it. He sent her away, forgiven and cleansed, to a new life.

If you struggle at all with using
truth as a weapon of war instead of a tool of love, I recommend reading this
book. If you struggle at all with using grace as an excuse to overlook sin
(either in your life or the lives of others), I recommend reading this book.
You will be challenged and encouraged. You will be humbled and amazed. And you
will encounter a glorious Savior who will draw you into His arms with grace and
truth.

Most Popular Posts

The first assault against Jennifer
Lawrence was heavily discussed in the news and on social media. The second has received
comparatively little fanfare. The first incident resulted in an FBI
investigation, subsequent prosecution, and an upcoming sentencing. The legal ramifications of the second incident are practically
nonexistent. The overall response to the first was outrage. The response to the
second was indifference.

What were these two incidents? The
first, as you may have guessed, was the 2014 iCloud hack in which private/nude photos of several female celebrities, including
Lawrence, were stolen and published online. The second incident involved the
filming of Jennifer Lawrence’s first sex scene (for the sci-fi movie Passengers). Let me set the stage by
sharing three similarities between the photo hack and the sex scene.
First, in the aftermath of the photo hack, Lawrence experienced anxiety. “I was
just so afraid,” she later said. “I didn’t know how this would affect my caree…

Several years ago, Kate Beckinsale
was conned into signing a movie contract that required nudity—something she
didn’t want to do. With her acting career in jeopardy, she found herself
browbeaten by the director. “I was really disturbed and I was sobbing and
begging,” she said.
At long last, she gave in to intimidation and performed the nude scene, which
made her feel
“violated and horrible.” Afterwards, she secretly urinated in
the director’s thermos in revenge.

In more recent history, one
actress from the HBO show Game of Thrones mustered up the courage to refuse doing any more nude
scenes. She is reported as saying
that she wants to be known for her acting, not for her body parts. (It’s a
sorry state of affairs that requires such a statement to be made in the first
place.) When the show started, she didn’t have nearly enough clout to buck the
system. A season of the show’s overwhelming popularity may have been what put
her in a better position to bargain with the producers. Would yo…

If you’re a fan of the 2014 film God’s Not Dead, and if you’re excited
about its upcoming sequel, you and I probably have several things in common. We
likely agree that historic Christianity is becoming less and acceptable in the
public sphere. We likely agree that many of our nation’s college campuses are
becoming more and more hostile to individuals who adhere to any form of
absolutes. We also likely agree that there is an increasing need for believers
of all types—students, teachers, pastors, filmmakers, etc.—to engage with our world
in an effective and countercultural way. It’s actually because of these
shared beliefs that I’m majorly concerned with the popularity of God’s Not Dead (and other movies like
it). And it’s because of these shared beliefs that I want to explain my concerns to you. I’ll put aside most of the
artistic issues I have with the film. (For that, I’ll direct you to my cyber
friends Steven D. Greydanus and Peter T. Chattaway). My main focus here will be on the mov…

* CONTENT ADVISORY: This topic requires a certain level of
frankness that may be inappropriate for some readers. While I have taken great
pains to avoid titillation, reader discretion is still advised. * Last week, we looked at the four main ways in which motion picture sex scenes and pornography are different.
Now I want to show how these factors actually prove to condemn Hollywood’s
methods rather than excuse them. Argument #1: There is often a difference in production
values. Motion pictures are a form of art, whereas porn is unabashed
titillation. Hollywood’s mash-up of blatant
sexuality (nudity and sex scenes) and aesthetics only serves to make its
displays of sex more alluring to the viewer. As supposed works of art,
Hollywood films are concerned with giving their audiences pleasure through
beauty. That’s what aesthetics are all about. What is ultimately more alluring:
a sex scene with bad lighting, poor audio quality, and shoddy production work,
or a sex scene with good composition…

So there I was, surrounded by church members, my pants wet,
my blood boiling. This wasn’t what I needed—at least, that’s what I told
myself.

The morning had started innocently enough. Shannon and I
arrived at our church building later than normal. Because of the pouring rain
and the packed parking lot, I said I would drop Shannon off at the front and then
go park and bring our Bibles and notebooks in. (After all, with an umbrella and
a raincoat at my disposal, my trek across the parking lot wouldn’t be too bad.)
Shannon didn’t want me lugging the books in the rain, so she
grabbed them before heading into the building. I then parked near the back of
the lot and reached for the umbrella.
It wasn’t there. Not in the back seat…not in the front seat.
Not anywhere. Shannon must have taken it inside with her.
Okay. No big deal. I still had my raincoat, and thanks to my
memory of a once-watched YouTube video, I had learned the trick to staying relatively
dry while traveling in the rain: wal…

Yes, I am
still on a Greatest Showman kick. Cut
me some slack, though. My wife and I only saw it for the first time just under
three weeks ago. The soundtrack still plays almost daily in our home, providing
near endless opportunities for our toddlers to daintily prance and spin as they
sing along with “The Circus Man” (as they gleefully call him). Besides, for
someone who’s as unhip as myself, it makes sense that I would be taken in by
such an uncool (according to critics), and yet wildly popular (according to general audiences), movie.

So, what
is my point in writing another post about this particular film? To gush like a
fanboy who has staked a personal claim to gold-encrusted, front-row seats on
the Greatest Showman bandwagon? Not exactly.
(That’s just a happy side effect.) The point of this blog post is to…well,
point out a unique aspect of the song “A Million Dreams.” After listening to this
song a bajillion times (give or take a few), I’ve noticed something
extraordinary about i…

I recently read through Genesis 15, where God reassures Abram, who is currently childless, that he will have numerous descendants (which God had initially promised in Genesis 12:1-3). Abram’s response leads to something amazing: “And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).

Commenting on this verse, Martin Luther says, “Righteousness is nothing else than believing God when He makes a promise.” The anti-intuitive nature of this statement struck me forcefully. You see, I am unconsciously inclined to think that my striving hard to do well is the kind of righteousness that pleases God. When I obey a particular law, do a good deed, or reject a temptation, then I have earned at least a small degree of God’s favor. But that is not how it works.

God definitely blesses our faith-inspired efforts, but such efforts are…well, based on faith—that is, confidence in God’s promise to pardon and accept me through Christ’s atoning work. If I attempt to som…

Last week, we looked at
Hollywood’s underground culture of sexual
abuse: how actors are routinely coerced into violating their consciences by
performing nude scenes and/or sex acts on screen. While audiences have grown
comfortable with watching such scenes, actors are often uncomfortable (or
worse) with filming them.

Isn’t it true, though, that some actors
willingly undress for the camera? The simple answer is, of course, yes. But
it’s an answer that requires at least two clarifications. And since women are
the majority of the victims in these circumstances, we’ll focus on women for
the rest of the article. First, it’s not as easy as you
might think to discern the difference between willing and unwilling
performances. Take just one example (or, rather, an example in several parts)
from recent history, all involving a “willing participant.” Actress Margot Robbie recounts
how her audition went for the movie The
Wolf of Wall Street. She showed up for the audition in her usual
look: jeans …

Your argument robs adult women of
agency because it says outright that they
are not consenting and implies they
cannot consent. It infantilizes adult women and asserts that they can only
be protected by men with a white knight impulse. We’re getting into an area
where women are regarded as little more than sheep, being led by whatever crook
is nearest.
As regular visitors know, over the past few years I have
focused much of my blog’s attention on how the entertainment industry places
pressure on actors to perform nude and/or sex scenes for audiences. It’s a
problem that is at once both tacitly acknowledged and blithely ignored. I have
argued further that those who suffer most under this burden are actresses.
With my emphasis on women, some readers have responded with
major concerns. I am both thankful for and alarmed by this feedback, because
the quoted critique above is not what I have meant to communicate. Not at all. I
offered a …

Let me tell you about a film that’s garnered a lot of
publicity. The story revolves around a wealthy and debonair businessman with
serious control issues. His sexual tastes involve perverse fantasies, but he
gets what he wants because he’s rich, powerful, and handsome. In telling this
story, the movie doesn’t shy away from depictions of the sex act. The audience
is inundated with sex, in fact. The debauchery is enough to make a lot of
people sick, either with revulsion, pleasure, or a mixture of both.

Do you think I’m talking about Fifty Shades of Grey? Actually, I’m referring to The Wolf of Wall Street, which came out on
DVD just last year.
Many prominent Christian critics loved WoWS, as I pointed out earlier. Fifty Shades of Grey,
on the other hand, has been either ignored or condemned. And yet there are some
glaring similarities in how both movies handle sex.
They both employ stylistic techniques that were labeled as hardcore porn just a few decades
ago. These techniques involve …